Tomatos growing on canopy

**jimmy cee** 4/4/2021, 10:20 pm

2015 was the last season I grew tomatos. a 4 x 10 bed gave me 32 tomato plants which I decided to grow up and rest on a canopy. Canopy followed SFG measurements below, 1 square foot increments of SS tubing supported by cross braces. Allowing plants to grow hi, keeping undergrowth relatively clear gave me excellent ventilation, had no problems with end rot or other mildew type problems from years before. Vines grew straight up and then across grids. I trimmed nothing on top, allowing growth to go where it wanted.
It was a successful experiment, sadly I wasnt able to duplicate in in following years...
Maybe some here might enjoy the idea and go with it.

**sanderson** 4/5/2021, 3:10 am

Jimmy, Thank you for sharing this set up. Were these determinate or indeterminate tomatoes? Do you have a photo of the plants in full growth?

OhioGardener 4/5/2021, 9:43 am

This is an interesting concept, Jimmy! Last year, for the first time, I grew tomatoes on an arbor which is made from cattle panels. The tomatoes grew all the way up the arbor to top of it, and then they spread out across the top of the arbor. I could walk through the arbor and pick tomatoes that were hanging over my head. That wasn't a planned experiment, but it had very interesting results.

This picture doesn't show the top very well, but you can see a little of the tomatoes spreading out on top of the arbor.

**jimmy cee** 4/5/2021, 10:34 am

sanderson wrote:Jimmy, Thank you for sharing this set up. Were these determinate or indeterminate tomatoes? Do you have a photo of the plants in full growth?

I am not able to remember, however I do know I grew everything from seed. I would have been growing different varieties, Cherokee Red being among them..
I had remarkable success growing everything from seed using only my strained compost for mix..

For some reason I never had photos of fruits above. Those few years were sort of off base for me.
I am going through all photos on my computer discs and if I do find any with growth above, I will certainly add them here... Tomatos growing on canopy 1f600

**jimmy cee** 4/5/2021, 10:39 am

OhioGardener wrote:This is an interesting concept, Jimmy! Last year, for the first time, I grew tomatoes on an arbor which is made from cattle panels. The tomatoes grew all the way up the arbor to top of it, and then they spread out across the top of the arbor. I could walk through the arbor and pick tomatoes that were hanging over my head. That wasn't a planned experiment, but it had very interesting results.

This picture doesn't show the top very well, but you can see a little of the tomatoes spreading out on top of the arbor.

I've often considered these panels. There is much one can do with them molding into any pattern wanted. That is a great set up...

OhioGardener 4/5/2021, 6:36 pm

You are right about the inexpensive cattle panels being so useful for gardening. This spring I am going to make some tomato cages using them after watching this youtube video:

**jimmy cee** 4/5/2021, 10:23 pm

I did a bit similar on a smaller scale for peppers and eggplants. kept them upright but pepper plants like to be touching each other

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